As I was preparing bread toast for myself this morning and I gently swiped every bread piece around the tawa (a flat skillet) to absorb all the ghee, I found my mind going on this trip down memory lane and followed by an epiphany.

A few years back, when I used to work in corporate, I shared a rented accommodation with two friends. One of them had a peculiar habit of leaving a dollop of ghee on tawa while cooking paranthas. I used to ask her to use up that ghee with parantha fully, otherwise it would get entirely wasted. But my suggestion was not welcomed, and I would see her getting annoyed.

She had a good reason for her habit since she came from a family who had a business dealing with milk and milk products. Nobody at home would probably have pointed it out to her earlier.

As I was low in self-esteem at the time, I took it upon myself. I saw it as my flaw, that I was probably acting miserly. Why am I not letting this girl have her fun and her freedom with respect to how she wants to cook and consume paranthas ?

That guilt stayed with me. And I was not aware that traces of it were still lurking somewhere in my subconscious.

But today I realized with a sense of freedom that I did not feel sorry. That I was not wrong in my action. That I carried guilt for such a small thing all this while for no mistake, since my intention was right. It was only to avoid wastage. Neither did I reprimand her. It was a gentle request on my part.

This change in my consciousness, this clarity, this self-belief has only come by walking the path of truth and sadhana. And most of us don’t know how many such small chains bind our consciousness unless we become free of them and feel that freedom.